The Diapers? Astronaut Denies It

 

The Diapers? Astronaut Denies It

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: June 30, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/30/us/30astronaut.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

ORLANDO, Fla., June 29 (AP) — The astronaut Lisa M. Nowak did not wear diapers during her 950-mile road trip to confront a romantic rival, her lawyer said Friday, disputing one of the more bizarre details to emerge from a love triangle.

“The biggest lie in this preposterous tale that has been told is that my client drove from Houston, Tex., to Orlando, Fla., nonstop, wearing a diaper,” the lawyer, Donald A. Lykkebak, told reporters after filing motions here to suppress evidence in his client’s criminal case. “That is an absolute fabrication.”

The tidbit that Captain Nowak, a naval officer, had worn diapers during her trip was written in the police report filed after her arrest in February. “I then asked Mrs. Nowak why she had baby diapers,” said the charging affidavit, written by Officer William Becton. “Mrs. Nowak said that she didn’t want to stop and use the restroom, so she used the diapers to collect her urine.”

There were toddler-size diapers in her car when she was arrested, Mr. Lykkebak said, but they were several years old. Captain Nowak and her family had used them, he said, when Houston was evacuated in 2005 ahead of Hurricane Rita.

The diaper detail became fodder for late-night television comics and talk radio. “It jeopardizes our ability to have a fair trial when the accused is the butt of jokes,” Mr. Lykkebak said.

An Orlando police spokeswoman, Sgt. Barb Jones, said that she could not comment about the case specifically and that the courts would determine the facts.

Captain Nowak, now 44, was charged with attempted kidnapping, battery and burglary with assault in a confrontation at Orlando International Airport with the girlfriend of another Navy officer, Cmdr. William A. Oefelein, then a space shuttle pilot. Commander Oefelein told detectives that he had had a two-year relationship with Captain Nowak but had ended it some time after he started a relationship with the girlfriend, Colleen Shipman, an Air Force captain.

Captain Nowak has pleaded not guilty, and her trial is set for September. She was dismissed from the astronaut corps a month after her arrest.

In his filings here Friday, Mr. Lykkebak asked among other things to have a transcript of the police interview with Captain Nowak sealed, contending that the media would otherwise use it for entertainment value and taint potential jurors.

 

 

 
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